‘My wife was not drunk and naked in the street’

Rachel Howarth

This is the North West mum-of-two arrested in Gran Canaria over claims she left her children alone and wandered the streets “drunk and naked”.

Sophie Shambley, 30, originally from Wigan, was detained by officers after they forced their way into the family’s apartment and allegedly found her asleep and undressed on a bed.

I don’t know where the line that she was wandering around naked comes from because she was in the house

Shaun Shambley

Neighbours in the resort of Arguiegin told officers the 30-year-old was earlier seen undressed in the streets close where the Shambleys were staying.

Police also say they received a number calls alleging Sophie was wandering naked through the streets of Arguiegin nearby her apartment.

When officers arrived they say they found the Shambleys older child, aged four, throwing items from the apartment balcony and Sophie, asleep and naked, on a bed.

However, speaking to the Mail Online, her husband Shaun insisted his wife, a recent graduate of De Montfort University Leicester, had been wrongly arrested.

Shaun, who is currently looking for work, said he was baffled by reports Sophie was seen naked outside, insisting she had spent the entire evening inside.

“We had been at a wedding that day where I was best man and Sophie was a bridesmaid.

“Everyone was out for a few drinks. Sophie then took the kids home put them to bed and she fell asleep either on the terrace or on the bed.

“The next minute the police turned up because the kids had woken and were throwing toys over the balcony.

“Our son does it all the time, we keep telling him to stop it. The neighbours phoned the police because it’s a quiet neighbourhood.”

Mr Shambley added: “I don’t know where the line that she was wandering around naked comes from because she was in the house.”

A Civil Guard spokesman said in a statement: “They went to the area in question after receiving several calls about a woman who was apparently inebriated and walking naked through the streets, while her children were throwing objects into the street.

“When officers arrived, locals told them the woman in question had returned to the place where she was staying moments earlier.

“They went to the place in question, discovering the door was open and hearing children crying.

“They entered immediately and found it in a mess with two youngsters, a boy aged four and a girl aged one year and eight months, who looked neglected.

“The little girl was in her crib and her nappy was full of excrement with nappy sores on her legs, a clear sign she had had the same nappy on for several hours.

“The four-year-old was crying and asking for food. Officers offered them food and water which the youngsters gratefully accepted.

“They also saw that the mother – whose initials are S.G.S – was laid on the bed without any clothes on and looked drunk.

“The officers acted immediately to take charge of the youngsters and alert professionals able to offer them immediate medical care.

“Their grandfather, who lives in the area, ended up taking charge of them.

“The mother was subsequently arrested on suspicion of a crime of abandonment and handed over to a local judge for questioning.”